Huntsville gazette., 1887-09-10
AWFUL CALAMITY.

Over One Hundred and Fifty Lives Lost
and Large Number of Persons Injured
in Burning Theater at Exeter, England
Terrible Scenes Among the Panic
Stricken Crowd.
LONDON, Sept. 6.-During the perform
ance of "The Romany Rye" in the thea.
ter at Exeter, last evening, the building
was discovered to be ON fire. The audience
became panic-stricken and made fran
tic rush for the exits in spite of the heroic
efforts of the attaches to reassure them
and induce them to go out quietly. The
occupants of the pit engaged in an awful
struggle for egress in the narrow aisles.
Men and women were deliberately
knocked down and trampled upon by
those behind them, and hundreds of per-
son were almost entirely denuded in
the terrible fight for life. The pit
was finally cleared, but a large
number of the occupants of that
portion of the house were seriously in
jured and presented a horrible spectacle
as they reached the streets. The occupants
of the gallery did not fare so well. There
was only one very narrow exit from the
upper tier involving the descent of very
long flight of stairs, and here an almost
indescribable scene of terror and slaughter
ensued. The rush for the stairs was ter
rife, and in moment the
entire passage was blocked, those
persons who kept their feet being sup
ported by a solid mass of PROSTATE
humanity. The shrieks, groans and curses
Of the imprisoned and mangled, the
wounded and the dying were perfectly
hearth ending, but there was no relief, and
in moment scores of men and women
were either suffocated to death or killed
by being trodden upon. A fire-escape was
at last brought to one of the gallery win
dows, and through this medium
the pressure was relieved, and
a great many persons were
lowered to the streets. AS soon as the
house had been cleared of the living, the
work of removing the dead was begun
and sixty bodies were taken out by means
Of the fire escape. The wounded survi
vors were conveyed to the hospital and
their number at this time can not be def
nitely ascertained, but it is very large
The total number of lives lost is estimat-
ed at one hundred, but may exceed that
figure.
The fire started in the flies during the
fourth act of the play. When the flames
were discovered drop scene was lowered
to prevent the current Of air from ncreas-
ing the blaze. After this was done the
actors and stage hands threw open a door
to make their escape, when the draft
caused the flames to burst through to
the drop scene and ignite the woodwork
of the gallery. The flames overlook the
hindermost of the unfortunate people who
were wedged in the stairway and literally
roasted them alive. There was no escape
for them, the fire being at their backs
and q compact. immovable mass of hui
man beings in front. The firemen reached
the upper windows and took out all the
people they could find, but most Of them
were dead and many others died soon
after they were taken out. The hospitals
revived few persons who were thought
to be dead from suffocation, but
at four O'Clock this morning
nearly a hundred corpses laid in
rows on the floor, and these did not com
prise the total number of the dead, as
great many bodies were burned to ashes
III the theater. Some of the dead We're
simply suffocated and not at all mutilated
or burned. The occupants of the dress
circle escaped without injury, the in
jured and dead being confined to
the pit ard the upper circles. The build
ing was destroyed.
One hundred and thirty bodies have
been taken out of the theater thus far Of
these one hundred We're men and boys and
thirty women. A score or more of the in
iured were taken to the hospital, and
arge number were taken to their homes.